


The Big Three in the Life of Jack Frost

by Uniasus



Series: In the Company of Others [1]
Category: Peter Pan & Related Fandoms, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-30
Updated: 2013-10-27
Packaged: 2017-12-28 01:12:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/985877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uniasus/pseuds/Uniasus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No spirit goes 300 years without interacting with someone, even if they're other spirits. Someone had to show Jack the ropes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Lost Boys](https://archiveofourown.org/works/734428) by [DarkInuFan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkInuFan/pseuds/DarkInuFan). 



There is no shockwave, or even little ripple of power, that is felt throughout the world when a new spirit appears. There is no sudden awareness of a new power, or notification from the Moon. New spirits are simply met by chance, or bad luck because it's usually a meeting involving an older spirit being harassed by someone who doesn't know their place or power.

So no one knew when Jack Frost came to be.

That's not to say he wasn't noticed.

Peter Pan, eternal child and protector of the Lost Boys and rare Lost Girls, had only one spiritual power – the ability to locate the souls of dead children unable to move on. And so, a few days after Jack Frost emerged from a frozen pond, the new winter spirit meet a flying primary aged student dressed in green and his fairy friend.

"You're not a Lost Boy." Peter said, flying around Jack while the other spirit turned in circles on the ice to keep him in sight.

"What's a Lost Boy?"

"A child who cannot find his way. Or does not want to live in a world of adults, like me!"

"Well, I certainly don't like adults. I don't think."

Tinkerbell started pulling on Jack's hair, drawing Peter's attention to it. "You're not just a child's soul, you're a spirit."

"There's a difference?" Jack asked, swatting at the creature of light tugging on his locks.

"Spirits have power from the Man in the Moon."

"Well, that would explain this." Jack finally caught Tinkerbell and froze her. Peter stared in awe at her frost covered figure as Jack deposited her in his hands. "I'm Jack Frost."

"Peter Pan."

Peter prodded one of Tink's frozen wings.

"Don't worry about her, she'll start defrosting soon. You should teach her some manners."

"I hate manners. Adults make them."

"So," Jack said, leaning against his staff. "Are you a spirit too?"

"Yes."

"Do, do people walk through you?"

Peter frowned. "No. But I don't go where people walk. I fly through the rooftops."

"Wanna race?"

"Sure! But I have to wait for Tink to thaw first. It's her fairy dust that makes me fly."

Jack held out his hand. "I don't need any fairy dust, wanna see?"

Peter took it and as Jack went zooming into the sky he let out a crow of happiness. Jack Frost may be young enough to be a Lost Boy, but he was a spirit instead. One who knew how to have lots of fun. Peter knew they'd be good friends.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Mother Nature - Gaia hired muscle.

Mother Nature preferred to let the Earth do what the Earth wanted to do. Gaia was good at that. Mother Nature was really just her hired muscle. Oh, this community isn't respecting the planet, bring on the hurricane!

Sure, the seasons needed helped in their rotation, sometimes Spring was shy and would have not preferred to make an appearance. Summer and Winter were always happy for the extra time unless someone shepherded them along as they should. But Mother Nature had assigned different spirits to guide the seasons so she didn't have to worry about them. Gaia called her lazy from time to time, but Mother Nature did do work. She liked gardening. And animal husbandry. New species had to come from somewhere after all.

However, she had noticed recently Winter could use a little help. She didn't know if Old Man Winter was just getting, well, older and forgetful. Really, what was the Man in the Sky thinking when he made an old man a spirit? Old brains didn't magically get better with the gifting of spiritual powers. Or maybe there was a subtle power shift going on between the seasonal heads that resulted in the erratic lengths of Winter as of late.

Regardless, she should go looking for a new spirit to help him out. Didn't Peter Pan mention a new spirit with winter powers? She should go visit him.

Mother Nature found the new spirit idly making ice murals on the roof of a church in Russia. Drat, she forgot the name Peter told her.

"Um, hello?"

The spirit started and fell off the dome. She watched intrigued as the wind caught him. Mother Nature didn't normally see such awareness of other spirits from the wind. It wasn't actually sentient, but she supposed it had some type of rudimentary intelligence. The wind did respond to commands, but to act on it's own was a rare event.

Then again, so was the age of this spirit. Normally the Man in the Moon, or his sisters in the Sun, chose beings in the prime of their lives. This new spirit was hardly more than a child. She should have expected that, seeing as how Peter had been the first one to interact with him.

"Who are you?" The young spirit looked nervous, unused to being disturbed.

"Mother Nature, of course."

She expected the spirit to bow. When she didn't she raised an eyebrow.

"Should I know you?"

"Well, yes."

"But we haven't meet."

"You're an elemental spirit, and thus under my control. You should know your boss."

"You don't get out much, do you?"

"Ah, no." She blushed, caught acting pompous. "But had no one really told you who I am?"

"Who would? I only know Peter and I haven't seen him for about ten years."

"What? Old Man Winter hasn't introduced himself?"

"Who?"

"The spirit in charge of the season of Winter."

"Nope. You're the second spirit I've seen in the past fifty years." Fifty years, she could have sworn Peter only stopped by last week! Or maybe last month. She did need to get out more.

"Is it normal for other spirits to have travel companions?"

"Hmm?" She asked, still lost in wondering where the time had gone.

He pointed at something near her ear and she turned to see on of her constant butterflies. "Right, travel buddies. I'm a special case. I'm pretty much the most powerful spirit you'll ever meet."

"Really?" The elemental spirit in front of her leaned cockily on his staff. "Then how come I haven't heard of you, oh great powerful lady?"

She conjured a rain cloud above his head, produced a torrid storm, and then sent a bolt of lightening through his body. "Don't be a smart ass. As it is, your education is sorely lacking. That settles it, I'm taking you to Old Man Winter myself."

Mother Nature rose on the wind, the new spirit besides her. "So, what's your name?"

"All powerful, but not all knowing, huh?"

"Do you want to be electrocuted again?"

"I rather enjoyed the experience, tingles all through my body. Like being tickled."

She glared at him and set out south.

With a burst of speed, he caught up to her. "I'm Jack Frost, by the way. Now, do you think you could tell me a bit more about this idea of you controlling me?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old Man Winter knows saying no to Mother Nature is a bad idea. He does it anyway.

Contrary to what she liked to believe, Mother Nature could be said no to. It just wasn't something that happened without consequences. Never mind the fact that Old Man Winter was sleeping in his ice castle when she knocked on the door and that's why he didn't answer. Silence in her mind meant no, and since she didn't like that she used her powers of sunlight to melt down his front door. And his bed and pillow, so he woke up choking on water.

Any other spirit and he would have sworn up a storm and froze their lips together to prevent them from answering, but Mother Nature was the most powerful spirit around. When she actually put her mind into doing things other than cross pollinating plants. Why was she at his ice castle?

"This is Jack Frost."

A young winter spirit was thrust forward before he finished emptying his lungs. And not just young as in green, though it was obvious the boy hadn't been a spirit long, but young in stature too. That pompous guy in the moon picked people younger and younger these days. Next time, they'd be a baby in North America with a following of people.

"He's to be your assistant, since you can't do your job right."

And with that, Mother Nature flew off and left both winter spirits blinking at her sudden departure.

"I don't need a damn assistant," he muttered to himself. But he didn't really want to know the consequence of his second refusal of all things nature today. He might become homeless. "Come on, follow follow."

He led the way past the garden and to the stables where the wooly mammoths were kept. Vestir was sleeping, so Old Man Winter kicked the ice giant's shin. Vestir woke with a roar that had Jack take a step back, but it really was a tamer yawn than usual. "Saddle up Marion," Winter commanded and Vestir stood up to obey.

"You have ice giants as servants?"

"I have all winter elementals as servants, you too. Mother Nature is in charge of all elementals and then you have the four seasonal heads, I'm Winter, obviously, who lead all the elementals of their type. The Man in the Moon may have thought a new winter spirit was needed and created you, but I don't. Behave, or it's well within my power to freeze you inside a glacier for a hundred years."

"Noted."

Vestir brought out Marion and the wooly mammoth trumpeted softly to greet Old Man Winter. After saying hello, he flew up to sit on the saddle and looked down at Jack expectantly. "Don't tell me you haven't figured out to command the wind yet."

Jack rocketed up to sit behind him. Silent command at only fifty years, impressive enough Winter wasn't going to comment. Was Jack's presence Manny's way saying he was getting weak with age? Bah humbug he was going to show this Jack Frost some real power today.

He didn't bother telling Jack to hold on before Marion took to the skies.

"I didn't know wooly mammoths could fly!" Jack shouted into his ear behind him. There was a lot the boy didn't know.

Marion and the wind took them to the Cradle of Life, the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia. Also known as one of the hottest places on earth with it's volcanoes and salt flats. Marion stood there placidly, ignoring the heat, while Jack hovered in her shadow obviously discomforted.

"It's too hot to stand on the ground, how are you doing that?" He pointed to Old Man Winter's small patch of frost over the baked earth.

"I am Winter, I can do anything."

Well, not really, but he had to show this upstart something. It took an amazing amount of power to do anything here, making it both a good place to show off and see what power Jack had. "Will you come down here if I make it colder?"

"Yes?"

Winter sucked in a large lungful of air and release it slowly, ice crystals leaving his lips to enter the air. The temperature dropped ten degrees and Jack made to touch down but when his bare toe meet the Earth he jerked his knee up to his chest. Old Man Winter sighed. "You have no heat tolerance."

"Because it's so important for winter spirits, who always spend time in the desert, to have that."

Marion stuck him in the back of the head with her trunk, sending Jack careening to the ground. "Hot hot hot!" The wind lifted him back up and pushed the younger spirit towards Winter. Jack was pressed up against his back like a scared child, taking comfort from the coldness of his skin. "Can we go somewhere else, please?"

He couldn't argue, he didn't want to be here for much longer either, and well, it wasn't quite right to torture the young spirit. He was only 50, a baby really. "Alright."

They went to Iceland and when Old Man Winter told Jack to just go wild in a rural town and show off his best moves Winter found himself forgotten. Jack Frost concentrated on zooming between buildings, icing the ground to cause minor slips, and throwing snowballs at children's faces. Old Man Winter was all about Winter, bringing in the cold and snow to put the plants to sleep till spring. Jack however had very little control over the cold and could only create minimal areas of ice, though his range for frost was large. No, Jack was more linked to the experience of Winter than its creation.

So many he wasn't being pushed aside after all. Maybe Jack really was just to help add a new, enjoyable layer to Winter rather than the rush of bringing in the harvest and worry over enough wood to burn throughout the cold months.

Jack Frost had a lot to learn about his powers, and about the spirit world Winter figured as he watched Jack try to have a conversation with a child. Old Man Winter didn't mind helping him out with that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old Man Winter's had enough of Jack's shenanigans.

Mother Nature liked receiving guests. When they behaved. But whoever had just flown over her head and froze the flowers she was just about to pollinate was not a nice house guest and was going to pay. On her command vines snaked from the surrounding garden and trapped the mischievous spirit, gagging him and binding him to a tree trunk. That done, she breathed on the rare orchids in front of her to defrost them and continued her work. Only when she was finished did Mother Nature stand up and turn around.

There was Jack Frost squirming in an attempt to free himself while Old Man Winter watched gleefully and ran a hand up and down Jack's staff. The younger spirit was blue cheeked with frustration. 

Mother Nature decided to ignore him and turned her attention to her seasonal head. “Is he a good assistant?”

“Not at all! He'd rather play games and pranks than do any real work and I have no more desire to baby sit him. A hundred years is enough, thank you very much!”

Had it really been a hundred years? Well, time does fly when you're trying to breed two new species of birds and thirteen new beetles. And she supposed, looking back, Winter hadn't been as regular as she would have liked. In fact, it was a tiny bit more erratic than when it was just Old Man Winter helping the season along. Maybe the Man in the Sky had a different plan for Jack Frost.

But he wasn't talking right now. She was Queen of the World and it would do for people to remember that. The Man in the Sky too. One day, she and Gaia were going to figure out how to get to him. 

“A hundred years is a rather short time.” She said, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Long enough for me!”

Jack was making noises behind his gag of vines. She figured it was something along the lines don't I get a say in this? which, well, he didn't. This was a grow up decision. Kid spirits needed to keep their mouths shut! To get her point across, she directed the sun to shine in Jack's eyes. 

“It's not nearly long enough to learn how to fully use your powers. Or how to properly shepherd in an season.”

“He had no desire to do that! If it were up to Jack, he'd let Gaia do all the work and then just add a touch or two here so the kids can make a snow angel and pet dogs can't drink from their bowls.”

Gaia chuckled underneath Mother Nature's feet. Jack Frost wasn't the only elemental spirit that left the work to the planet. Mother Nature did the same thing, sorta. She made other people do it instead. 

“He's your assistant and that's final! When you go to sleep in the ice he'll be your replacement.”

“That's centuries away yet. And in the mean time I refuse to have anything to do with someone like him who keeps making snowmen in risque postures of me! He is no longer my concern!”

No one says no to Mother Nature and gets away with it. She opened the earth, a straight passage from here to his castle in the South Pole with a detour to brush the plant's hot core. When the ground healed up, Mother Nature picked up Jack's staff and pointed it at him. 

“When I release you, do you promise to go straight to the South Pole?”

Jack nodded frantically. 

She released the vines and tossed his staff at him. The wind picked him up and they raced off. 

Somehow, she knew Jack Frost wasn't going to the South Pole, but she would let it slide for now.


	5. Chapter 5

Hiding out near London, Jack did not expect Peter Pan to show up. But as that was his friend's favorite haunt maybe he was secretly looking for his company. “Hey Peterbird. How are you?”

“Not bad. I'm looking for Indians to hunt. Have you seen any?”

Peter was always looking for Indians, or the mysterious Caption Hook that Jack had never seen. That was something that endeared Peter Pan to him; not only had Peter been the first spirit he met but he was also full of imagination and good times. He just wished the boy didn't spend so much time in Neverland. He only really knew three spirits – Peter, Mother Nature, and Old Man Winter. The latter had essentially just kicked him out of his home, and Mother Nature was rather reclusive even by spirit standards. 

“Last I checked, they're over in America. Should we go take a look?”

Peter's crow of joy was all the answer Jack needed. 

They took to the skies.

Jack looked below him before they hit the ocean. Old Man Winter had said what made a spirit's life happy was a job well done and a few believers. 150 years and Jack still didn't have any believers, a pain that would sting from time to time so he did his best not to bring it up. But a job well done, well he supposed having fun counted right? Because playing with kids always brought him joy.

“Wanna race?” Peter challenged, Tinkerbell spiraling around him to give him more fairy dust for speed.

“You're on!” How could he refuse playing with the only child who saw him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for following along you guys!


End file.
